Beyond Onboarding: Cultivating Integration in the Workplace

StoryTiling Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Aliaa Remtilla, explains why she believes that 'integrating' new hires is a more holistic and human centred approach to employee onboarding.

The Article:

We talk about ‘work culture’ all the time. We know it’s important. We spend so much time and energy to make our work culture amazing with social events, recognition programs, professional development, mentorship programs, mental health programs, flexible work arrangements—the list goes on.

The question I keep asking is: what about onboarding? How often do we talk about ‘work culture’ in the context of onboarding or even pre-boarding, for that matter? I get it; I’m an anthropologist, so I care about culture more than most people. But I do think there’s a general gap in our approach to pre/onboarding. So here’s my case.

When a new employee walks into an organisation, they’re walking into an ecosystem full of moving parts.

Let’s start by putting ourselves into the shoes of the new hire. When a new employee walks into an organization, they’re walking into an ecosystem full of moving parts. Each department, team, and even individual can represent a different subculture with its own set of rules, languages, and expectations. New employees face an information overload. They have to adapt to their roles while also learning the company's language, mission, and culture.

Culture already exists in the workplace. It's not an artefact; it's a living, breathing entity. It's in the coffee chats, the Slack emojis, and the unspoken rules that everyone seems to know. New hires need to integrate into an existing cultural landscape, and this is social. Human. Interpersonal. Dynamic. It's about understanding how to communicate with your boss without stepping on toes. About finding the best way to collaborate with team members. About carving out your niche where you can make a meaningful impact.

Some of these pieces can be broken down into processes, systems, and policies that can be introduced. This type of formal introduction to the company (that we usually call ‘onboarding’) is a key part of integrating the new hire. But work culture goes beyond that. Culture is constituted by the people who are part of the community and it’s ever-changing. There’s always going to be a part of culture that transcends the paperwork. The unwritten rules that govern everyday interactions are so important that you could be in a company that checks all the boxes—great pay, interesting work, good work-life balance—but still want to leave because you don’t get on with your boss (soft skills trainings are so important!!!).

Integrating a new hire is something every team member contributes to.

This is why I prefer the term 'integration' over 'onboarding.' Integration has space for the formal components of onboarding that are central. But the word also acknowledges the need for more nuanced, informal and ongoing aspects of becoming a contributory member of a community or system. It’s a more holistic, human-centric word. Integrating a new hire is not just something clinical that is the sole responsibility of Human Resources; it’s something every team member contributes to.

Integration is an interpersonal process. A human-centred experience that can’t be taught with a slide deck. We may not be able to create a curriculum or a checklist or a policy for this part of a new hire’s ‘integration’. But we can find the tools and processes that enable our people (i.e. our existing managers and employees) to make this happen. (Shameless plug for StoryTiling here…since this is where we shine ;))

The revolutionary thought (for me at least) is this. If culture is its people…then when the people who make the culture (the employees) change, (e.g. when a new hire is introduced) the culture evolves too. This happens whether we like it or not. It’s just a fact. Poor integration (or a complete lack of it), means that we’re not controlling or directing or finessing the process. But when integrated thoughtfully, a new hire can offer a company more than just another set of hands. A well-integrated new hire transforms their team, their outputs and their workplace experience.

So let’s not just onboard; let’s integrate. Because meaningful, human-centered integration is not just a buzzword; it’s the linchpin for a successful, harmonious work culture.